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bees

DEC’s Intent to Restrict Certain Neonicotinoid Pesticide Products

February 12, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

honeybee courtesy DECThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced plans to reclassify certain neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticide products as “Restricted Use” effective January 1st, 2023. [Read more…] about DEC’s Intent to Restrict Certain Neonicotinoid Pesticide Products

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: bees, birds, butterflies, DEC, gardening, insects, Landscape Architecture, nature, pollinators, pollution, Wildlife

Making Ink From Oak Galls: Some History & Science

November 13, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Developing Oak Marble gall caused by the insect Andricus kollari on Quercus robur Chapeltoun, North Ayrshire, Scotland by Wikimedia user Rosser1954What do the following items have in common: the Declaration of Independence, Da Vinci’s notebooks, Bach’s musical scores, Rembrandt’s drawings, Shakespeare’s plays, and the Magna Carta?

Give up?

These examples, along with countless other documents ranging from the historically important to the more mundane, were all recorded using iron gall ink, which is made – in part – from the protrusions created after oak gall wasps lay their eggs within oak trees. [Read more…] about Making Ink From Oak Galls: Some History & Science

Filed Under: Arts, History, Nature Tagged With: bees, insects, Material Culture, oaks, Printing, Science History, trees, wasps

Bee Anarchy Is Bad for Picnics

September 3, 2021 by Paul Hetzler 1 Comment

George-Cruikshanks-Pic-Nic-disturbed-by-a-Swarm-of-Bees-1826I’m not one to shed a tear when authoritarian rulers die, but once they’re gone, picnics become a lot more dangerous. Toward the end of summer, just in time for Labor Day picnics and County Fairs, the original queen in every yellowjacket wasp colony dies.

It’s not the stuff of Hamlet or some far-reaching conspiracy, it’s just that having a few thousand babies in the course of one season is enough to tire any Queen Mum to death. [Read more…] about Bee Anarchy Is Bad for Picnics

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: bees, insects, nature, Wildlife

Honey Bee Keepers, Curb Your Enthusiasm

August 12, 2021 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

honey bee forager collecting pollen courtesy Jon SullivanWith their marvelous interpretive-dance routines, complex social life, and delicious honey, honeybees are widely respected, but they’re anything but sweet to wild pollinators. In fact, a surfeit of honeybees is a big threat to our native bees and butterflies. [Read more…] about Honey Bee Keepers, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Filed Under: Food, Nature Tagged With: bees, butterflies, gardening, hummingbirds, insects, local farms, nature, pollinators, wildflowers, Wildlife

Digger Wasps: Diverse and Showy Insects

August 7, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Digger WaspsLast summer while working in the garden, I was startled when a fast-flying wasp dropped a plump pumpkin spider on the soil in front of me. The wasp landed, grabbed the spider, and wiggled backwards into a small hole I hadn’t noticed, quickly covering the entrance as if to say, “nothing to see here.” It was the first time I’d seen a digger wasp provisioning an underground nest. [Read more…] about Digger Wasps: Diverse and Showy Insects

Filed Under: History, Nature Tagged With: bees, insects, nature, pollinators, wasps, Wildlife

Flower Color: A Science Primer

July 18, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

TOS_FlowerColor_ButtercupTo quote the French dramatist Jean Giradoux, “The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.” Flowering plants fill our summer fields and gardens, bring bright spots of color to our woods, and – since their arrival on the scene some 130 million years ago – have evolved along with animal life to become an essential part of the food web. [Read more…] about Flower Color: A Science Primer

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: bees, Native Plants, nature, pollinators, wildflowers, Wildlife

New York Insects: Paper Wasps

June 5, 2021 by Tom Kalinowski 1 Comment

young paper wasp queen courtesy Wikimedia user AlvesgasparWhile working around the home this summer, it is not unusual to notice the papery nest of a wasp tucked under the eaves, hidden behind a loose shutter, or placed in some other protected spot. While an encounter with this type of structure may temporarily disrupt a painting project or repair work, such a sanctuary is vital to the summer success of these familiar yellow and black insects, and should be left alone if at all possible as wasps play a role in helping to control the populations of numerous insects, spiders and other bugs. [Read more…] about New York Insects: Paper Wasps

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: bees, insects, nature, pollinators, wasps, Wildlife

The Hardy Bumble Bee

May 23, 2021 by Tom Kalinowski Leave a Comment

bumblebee courtesy wikimedia user SffubsShortly before apple blossoms open and honeysuckle flowers emerge from their buds, queen bumble bees awaken from their winter dormancy and begin the chore of establishing the small colony over which they will reign throughout the coming growing season. [Read more…] about The Hardy Bumble Bee

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: bees, insects, nature, pollinators, wildflowers, Wildlife

How Insects Spend A New York Winter

January 23, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

TOS_Insects_MourningCloakI consider the lack of biting insects and other invertebrates, to be a wondrous gift of the winter season.

I can wander unmolested through wood and field absent the attentions of mosquitoes, deer flies, and ticks. And aside from a short list of “usual suspects,” insects are a rarity to be encountered in the winter woods. [Read more…] about How Insects Spend A New York Winter

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: bees, insects, nature, weather, Wildlife, winter

Giant ‘Murder’ Hornets: Great News About Bad News

January 11, 2021 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

Asian Giant Hornet courtesy Wikimedia user NUMBER7isBESTMy son, wise beyond his years it would seem, taught me an invaluable lesson when he was a teenager living at home. Any time I got worked into a froth about a broken car, leaky roof or other serious, but non-cataclysmic setback, he’d put things in perspective for me: “Pops, it could always be worse – you could be on fire.” [Read more…] about Giant ‘Murder’ Hornets: Great News About Bad News

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: bees, insects, Invasive Species, nature, Wildlife

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